Fabricio Coloccini will learn his fate with Newcastle United sooner rather than later.

The Toon skipper and his representatives spent yesterday locked in talks with the Magpies’ board as they look to secure a smooth transfer back to Argentinian club San Lorenzo this month.

As reported in Saturday’s Chronicle, the Buenos Aires club are set to be backed by media guru and film producer Marcelo Tinelli and South American business partners.

They say they will fund the transfer as a goodwill gesture to San Lorenzo.

Associates close to Coloccini’s representatives claim a fee of £3.5m to cover his transfer has been discussed to secure his passage back to South America.

Coloccini wants to return to Argentina for “personal matters” and Newcastle could not have been more understanding about his predicament.

However, as Coloccini appreciates, his exit leaves them with a gaping void in their team and suggestions he should be allowed to leave for free would also leave Newcastle out of pocket for the £7m-rated player.

Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa’s expected arrival on Tyneside could prompt an announcement on Coloccini in due course. However, the Magpies had no comment to make on the meeting with their captain.

One option thought to have been put to Coloccini was to stay until the end of the season then re-assess his options.

However, it has been made clear that, despite Newcastle’s relegation battle, he wants to leave this month if possible.

Yanga-Mbiwa’s arrival would ease the situation and Steven Taylor’s return will also do Alan Pardew no harm.

Speaking on the return of Taylor in time for the trip to Aston Villa in seven days’ time, Pardew said: “He has a week to get up to speed.

“He has only trained for four days.

“We never considered him for Reading, but hopefully for Villa he will be in contention.”